Terms of Service — Garage Hero

Accepting these terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Garage Hero ("Garage Hero," "we," "us"). They govern your use of the Garage Hero mobile app, the website at garageheroapp.com, and all related services (the "Services").

By creating an account, booking a cleanout, accepting a job, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract to use the Services. If you are using the Services on behalf of a business, you represent that you are authorized to bind that business to these Terms.

Please read Sections 13, 14, and 16 carefully. They limit our liability and require most disputes to be resolved by individual arbitration rather than in court or as part of a class action.

What Garage Hero is

Garage Hero is a marketplace. We connect customers who want a garage cleared out with independent local service providers ("Heroes") who perform that work.

We do not perform cleanouts ourselves. Heroes are independent contractors — they are not our employees, agents, partners, or joint venturers. We do not supervise, direct, or control a Hero's work, their schedule, their equipment, or the manner in which they complete a job. The contract for the cleanout itself is between the customer and the Hero.

We review and approve Hero applications before a Hero can accept work, and we operate a rating system so customers can see a Hero's track record. That review is not a guarantee of any Hero's quality, honesty, licensing, insurance, or fitness for a particular job.

Your account

You must provide accurate, current information and keep it up to date.
You are responsible for everything that happens under your account and for keeping your password confidential.
One person, one account. Do not share, sell, or transfer your account.
Tell us immediately at support@garageheroapp.com if you suspect unauthorized use.
You may delete your account at any time — see Delete your account.

Booking a cleanout

When you submit a cleanout request, here is what happens and what it means:

You describe the job — service type, garage size or dimensions, address, photos, and notes.
The app shows an estimated price range. This is an estimate only, not an offer or a binding quote.
Your request is made available to Heroes serving your area. A Hero may accept it or submit a bid.
Your Hero inspects the garage and gives you a final price.
A binding agreement for the cleanout forms when you approve that final price. Work begins after your approval.

We do not guarantee that a Hero will accept any particular request, or that one will be available in your area or on your preferred date.

Pricing and payment

Estimates are estimates. Ranges shown in the app and on this website are based on typical jobs of that size and service type. The price you actually owe is the final price you approve.
Nothing is charged at booking. Payment is collected after the job is marked complete.
Payments run through Stripe. By paying, you also agree to the Stripe terms. Your card details go directly to Stripe; Garage Hero never receives or stores your full card number.
Extra charges. Certain items carry disposal fees charged by the facility — for example tires, appliances containing refrigerant, mattresses, and construction debris. Your Hero must disclose any additional charge and get your approval before incurring it.
Taxes. Prices may not include applicable sales or disposal taxes, which will be added where required.
Service fee. Garage Hero may retain a service fee from the job price for operating the marketplace. Where a fee applies, it is disclosed before you confirm.
Failed payments. If a payment is declined, you remain responsible for the amount owed, and we may suspend your account until it is settled.

Cancellations and refunds

You may cancel a cleanout free of charge before a Hero has been assigned.
Once a Hero has accepted, cancelling close to the scheduled time may incur a cancellation fee to compensate the Hero for the reserved slot. Any such fee is disclosed in the app before you confirm the cancellation.
If a Hero cannot reach the garage because nobody is there to provide access, that is treated as a late cancellation.
A Hero may decline or abandon a job that is materially different from what was described, that contains prohibited items, or where conditions are unsafe. You are not charged for work that was not performed.
If something goes wrong — the work was not completed, was not as agreed, or something was damaged — contact support@garageheroapp.com within 72 hours. We will investigate and may issue a full or partial refund at our discretion.

Customer responsibilities

If you book a cleanout, you agree that:

You own the property, or you have the property owner's permission to have items removed.
You have the right to dispose of everything you ask a Hero to take. Once an item is removed, it is gone.
You will remove or clearly identify anything of sentimental or unusual value, and anything you want kept, before work starts.
You will provide safe, lawful access to the garage at the scheduled time.
You will disclose known hazards — pests, mold, structural problems, aggressive animals, or anything on the prohibited list.
You will treat your Hero with respect and will not ask them to do anything unsafe or unlawful.

Terms for Heroes

If you apply to be or work as a Hero, you additionally agree that:

You are an independent contractor. You are not an employee of Garage Hero. You control when, where, and whether you work, and you supply your own vehicle, tools, and labor.
You handle your own taxes. No income, payroll, or self-employment tax is withheld on your behalf. You are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes.
You are responsible for your own licensing and insurance, including any hauling, disposal, or business licenses your jurisdiction requires. Garage Hero does not provide you with workers' compensation, liability, or vehicle insurance.
You will complete accepted jobs professionally, on schedule, and as described, and you will communicate promptly if plans change.
You will dispose of all removed material lawfully at licensed facilities. Illegal dumping is grounds for immediate and permanent removal from the platform, and you indemnify us for it.
You will use customer information — names, addresses, phone numbers, photos, access details — only to perform the job, and you will not retain, share, or market to it afterward.
You will not solicit customers to transact outside the platform in order to avoid service fees.
You must keep the information in your Hero profile accurate, and you must tell us if anything changes that affects your eligibility to work.

Prohibited items and conduct

Items Heroes will not remove

Hazardous and regulated material is excluded from every job: paint, solvents, motor oil, fuel, propane and pressurized tanks, batteries, pesticides, asbestos, chemicals, biological or medical waste, ammunition, explosives, firearms, and illegal substances. Do not present these for removal.

Conduct

You agree not to:

Use the Services for anything unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive, or to launder property you do not own.
Harass, threaten, discriminate against, or endanger anyone you meet through the Services.
Post false, defamatory, obscene, or infringing content, or manipulate ratings.
Impersonate anyone, or misrepresent your identity, qualifications, or affiliation.
Scrape, reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services or to other users' data.
Interfere with the operation or security of the Services, or introduce malware.
Use the Services to compete with us or to build a competing product.

Your content and reviews

You keep ownership of the photos, notes, messages, and reviews you submit ("Your Content"). By submitting Your Content, you grant Garage Hero a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, and display it as needed to operate, improve, and promote the Services. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies already shared with a Hero for a job and for records we are required to keep.

You are responsible for Your Content and confirm you have the rights to submit it. Reviews must reflect a genuine experience. We may remove content that violates these Terms, but we are not obliged to monitor or moderate content.

Item value estimates

The app can estimate what an item might be worth from a photo. These estimates are generated automatically, are approximate, and are provided for information only. They are not appraisals, offers to purchase, or guarantees of resale value, and you should not rely on them for insurance, tax, or sale decisions.

Our intellectual property

The Services, including the Garage Hero name, logo, app, website, design, and all software and content we provide, are owned by Garage Hero and protected by intellectual property law. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or create derivative works from any part of the Services except as these Terms allow.

Disclaimers

The Services are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We specifically do not warrant that:

Any Hero will be available, will accept your job, or will perform it to your satisfaction;
Any Hero is licensed, insured, bonded, or qualified beyond what our review process covers;
Estimated prices will match the final price;
Garage measurements, whether typed in or produced by a scan, are exact;
The Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.

You interact with Heroes and customers at your own risk. We are not a party to the cleanout agreement and are not responsible for the acts or omissions of any user. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Garage Hero and its officers, directors, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, loss of goodwill, personal injury, or property damage arising out of or relating to the Services — whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other theory, and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims relating to the Services will not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid to Garage Hero in the six months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred US dollars ($100).

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Garage Hero and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Services, your violation of these Terms or of any law, your infringement of anyone's rights, any content you submit, or — if you are a Hero — the work you perform and the material you dispose of.

Disputes and arbitration

Talk to us first

Most problems can be solved quickly. Before starting a formal proceeding, email support@garageheroapp.com describing the issue and the resolution you want. Both sides agree to try in good faith to resolve it informally for 30 days.

Binding individual arbitration

If we cannot resolve it, you and Garage Hero agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court. Arbitration will take place in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, or by videoconference, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.

Class action waiver

You and Garage Hero each waive the right to bring or participate in a class, collective, or representative action. The arbitrator may award relief only to the individual party seeking it. If this waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim proceeds in court and the rest of this section still applies.

Exceptions and opt-out

Either party may bring a qualifying claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing support@garageheroapp.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Where arbitration does not apply, the state and federal courts located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina have exclusive jurisdiction.

Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access — with notice where practical, immediately where necessary — if you breach these Terms, if we suspect fraud or unlawful activity, if your conduct puts another user at risk, or if we discontinue the Services.

Termination does not affect payment obligations for work already performed. Sections 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 20 survive termination.

App Store terms

The following applies to the iOS app downloaded from the Apple App Store:

These Terms are between you and Garage Hero only, not with Apple. Garage Hero, not Apple, is solely responsible for the app and its content.
Your license to use the app is a non-transferable license to use it on any Apple-branded device you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to the app.
Apple is not responsible for addressing any claim relating to the app, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to conform to a legal requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection or privacy law.
Apple is not responsible for investigating, defending, settling, or discharging any third-party claim that the app infringes intellectual property rights.
You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a US Government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting," and that you are not on any US Government restricted-parties list.
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and, upon your acceptance, will have the right to enforce them against you.
Questions, complaints, or claims about the app should go to support@garageheroapp.com.

Text messages and calls

When you give us your phone number, you agree that Garage Hero and the Hero assigned to your job may contact you at that number by phone call and text message about your account and your cleanouts — booking confirmations, schedule changes, arrival notices, receipts, and replies to support requests.

These are transactional messages, not marketing. We do not send promotional or advertising texts without your separate, express consent.
Consent to receive texts is not a condition of purchase. You can book a cleanout without agreeing to marketing messages of any kind.
Message frequency varies depending on how many cleanouts you book and where each job is in progress.
Message and data rates may apply under your plan with your mobile carrier. Garage Hero does not charge you for text messages.
To stop texts, reply STOP to any message. For help, reply HELP or email support@garageheroapp.com. Opting out of texts does not stop in-app or email notices about jobs you have already booked.
Delivery is not guaranteed. Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
If you give up a phone number or change it, tell us promptly so we do not contact someone else at your old number.

How we handle your phone number is described in our Privacy Policy.

General provisions

Changes. We may update these Terms. We will revise the "Last updated" date and, for material changes, give notice in the app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use after that means you accept the new Terms.
Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Garage Hero about the Services.
Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in full force.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control.
Notices. We may send notices to the email on your account. Send notices to us at support@garageheroapp.com.

Contact us

Garage Hero, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.